


Our Poisoned Chalice

by BlueStrawberryIII



Series: The Crown of Chance [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Blood, Death, Gen, Gore, Mad King Ryan, its not enough to be considered graphic though, kinda later on tho, king AU, rt king au, this fic is shaping up to be really long like what am i even doing with my life, umm some warnings tho, yeah thatll happen at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-01-19 17:22:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1477852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueStrawberryIII/pseuds/BlueStrawberryIII
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Treachery from within King Ramsey's inner circle disrupts the kingdom's peace, marking the beginning of a massive civil war. Plots and rebellions follow one king after another in the struggle to restore the Ramsey line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning: some violence against animals

“What was that noise?”

“I don’t know. It was loud, whatever it was.”

Jack moved his horse a bit farther up the path and squinted into the forest. Even in the afternoon, the trees shaded the path so well that it was dark as night in the forest. He turned back to look at Ryan and Geoff. “Well? Are we gonna check it out?”

“Do you think it’s safe?” Ryan asked, lazily stretching his arms behind his back, “After all, we have to make sure the great King Geoff gets home alive.” He smirked at Geoff, who scowled in return, then flicked his horse’s reins.

“Then I guess you better hope I don’t die. Come on!” Within seconds, Geoff disappeared into the murky darkness of the forest, Jack and Ryan following after him.

Geoff went in the direction he had heard the sound, two loud booms that had frightened the horses and shook the dirt beneath them. As he got closer to the area, he began to hear the baying of wolves, the sound they made right before closing in for the kill. Drawing his sword, Geoff burst into the small clearing. Directly in front of him were two holes in the ground, obviously caused by large blasts. To his right, he saw the wolves circling around someone—a young boy, unwashed and scruffy beyond belief. He held a branch plucked from a nearby tree as a weapon against the wolves, for all the good it would do.

Before Ryan and Jack could catch up, Geoff leapt off his horse and swung his sword at the nearest wolf, leaving a nasty cut running from its shoulder to the hip. The rest of its pack immediately turned from the boy to Geoff, growling lowly and advancing with death in their eyes. Then, one by one, their ears perked up and seconds later, Jack and Ryan entered the clearing, Ryan’s sword drawn and Jack hefting his axe onto his shoulder. The wolves turned and fled, a few looking regretfully back at their wounded companion before they were swallowed by the trees and the shadows. Geoff sheathed his sword.

The boy was backed up against the tree, hissing angrily. When Geoff tried to move toward him, he swung his stick in a wide arc. “Whoa, buddy!” Geoff said, raising his hands in defense. “We’re here to help.” The boy just continued hissing.

Off to the left, Ryan muttered, “Creepers…”

“What?” Geoff asked, careful to move out of range of the boy’s stick before turning around to look at Ryan, who was kneeling next to one of the blast areas.

“These holes. They were made by creepers,” Ryan elaborated. “You can tell by the gunpowder-y smell and the black residue.”

Still avoiding the stick’s swinging range, Geoff got up. “Jack, could you try talking to the kid? I don’t think he likes me.” Jack nodded and moved over to the boy, while Geoff joined Ryan next to the twin craters. “So, what do you think happened here?”

Ryan ran a gloved hand through his hair. “Hard to say. There’s some wolf bones around the blasts—they’re charred, but you can still tell what they are—so maybe the pack attacked a couple of creepers or something…”

“What about the kid? How does he fit into this?”

“I don’t know,” Ryan admitted. He turned his head to face the boy. “You got anything, Jack?”

“Nothing,” Jack called back, “I get the feeling he doesn’t understand English. Actually, I don’t think he can speak at all.”

Geoff frowned. “What do you mean? He’s gotta speak _something_.”

“Well, besides hissing a bunch—and now he’s crying, too—it doesn’t look like he can speak. Like, at all.”

“Yeah, actually, why _is_ he hissing?”

“Maybe—” Ryan cut in for a second, then shook his head. “Never mind.”

“What?” Geoff demanded, Jack following close behind.

“What if he lives here? Jack said he can’t speak. Plus, he’s hissing just like a creeper. Maybe he was raised by them.” He gestured to the craters he and Geoff were kneeling next to. “It would explain these, at least.”

Geoff scoffed. “So, what, this kid was raised by exploding green monsters?”

Jack shrugged. “I guess. So what’re we gonna do?”

“We can’t just leave him here,” Geoff said, “I mean, whether Ryan’s right or not, he’s still just a kid, and he’s definitely alone.”

“And he’s got a pretty bad gash on his leg there,” Ryan said, leaning forward to get a better look. “We should at least bring him back to get him patched up.”

“Yeah, even if we just send him back later.” Jack looked back over to the boy and knelt down in front of him. “Would that be alright?” He kept his voice calm and soothing, trying not to scare the child. “We’re going to take you to the castle, but once you get better, you can leave. Okay?”

From behind Jack, Geoff mumbled, “What’s the point of asking if he can’t understand?” Ryan shushed him.

Jack extended his hand towards the boy slowly. Although he shied away at first, after a few long seconds punctuated only by some sniffles, he took Jack’s hand. Though he didn’t drop his stick.

“Dude!” Geoff exclaimed, “How’d you do that?”

Jack shrugged. “I guess I’m just not as scary as you.” He stood up, still holding the boy’s hand, and started leading him back to the horses. They’d only gotten a few feet before the boy stopped, digging his heels in and looking back at the injured wolf with a pleading look in his eye. Jack regarded the child in confusion as he was dragged back to the wolf. “You want to bring the wolf, too?”

“Why the hell would he want to bring the wolf? It just tried to kill him!”

“Geoff,” Ryan said, looking at the sky, “Just do what the kid wants. It’s gonna get dark soon, and I don’t want to be caught outside the castle walls after nightfall.”

Aggravated, Geoff sighed. “Fine. We’ll take the wolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh guys i know its just the first chapter but thank you so much for clicking on my fic! (and then reading all the way through like wow you all get gold stars and an A+ thank u)  
> so yeah anyways you are all so cool, and i really hope you enjoyed my first bit of fic for the rt fandom, and that you will (if you feel so inclined) also enjoy the rest of this (super long) fic. (i know im having fun writing it!)


	2. Geoff - Sixteen Years Later

_“But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine on all deservers.”_

          -Macbeth (I.iv.46-47)

* * *

 

Gavin pulled his dappled green cloak closer to himself, darting to the next tree, keeping to the shadows to avoid detection. “Lilac!” he called behind him. A wolf sprang from the other side of a fountain, trotting over to where Gavin stood. He ruffled her hair and whispered “Good girl”, then scanned his surroundings.

He was still in the palace gardens, but he couldn’t see any servants among the various plants. Normally, he wouldn’t have to sneak out like this, but today was a special occasion and Geoff wanted him to stay inside (“Please, Gavin. I wouldn’t care, but this is a kingdom-wide sort of thing, and I don’t need your knees covered in grass stains!”). Gavin had intended to stay inside—honestly!—but all the servants fretting over him and cleaning and cooking had made him so antsy that he just had to get out.

“It’s only for a little bit,” he whispered to Lilac, as if he was reassuring her instead of himself, glancing around once more. Freedom was just a few feet away in the form of a little crack in the garden wall. Not many people could fit through it, but Gavin was thin as a rail. With a little effort, he could shimmy through.

“Ready, Lilac?” He glanced around again, making doubly sure that nobody was around to see him sprint through the wide open space. “…go!” Lilac yipped in excitement and raced after Gavin. She waited for him to go through the crack, then followed at his heels.

On the other side, Gavin laughed and reached down to scruff behind Lilac’s ears. “We did it, Lilac!”

Lilac barked and ran forward into the tree line, spinning around every now and again to make sure Gavin was still following her. Once they got to the clearing, she stopped running and instead picked up a stick for Gavin to throw.

* * *

 

A few hours of playing later, Gavin flopped down onto the grass, limbs splayed out and eyes staring up at the sky. Lilac came over and nudged his shoulder. “It’s alright, I won’t get grass stains,” Gavin told her, gesturing to his cloak. “See? My cloak’ll make sure nothing gets dirty.” Lilac barked and curled up on top of said cloak in the space between Gavin’s arm and chest. He absently stroked her flank while watching the clouds float aimlessly above, careful to avoid the scar running along Lilac’s side. The only sounds besides Lilac’s breaths were birdcalls and the rustling of leaves on high above branches, and Gavin found himself drifting off into a sleepy trance, perfectly content to rest under the sky.

* * *

 

A faint cry from inside the palace walls broke the spell and jolted Gavin from his daze. “Gavin!” the voice called, carrying fairly well considering how far away the castle was.

Gavin groaned. “Shiiiittt. C’mon Lilac, we’ve gotta go.” He eased Lilac up off of his cloak, throwing her an apologetic look when she whined in complaint.

“Gaviiinnn!”

“I’m coming,” Gavin grumbled as he started to jog back to the crack in the wall. By the time he got there, the voice had moved on to a different part of the gardens, so Gavin was able to sneak into the castle undetected. In fact, he made it all the way to the servants’ stairwell before he got caught by one of the kitchenmaids. In hindsight, Gavin realized taking the servants’ stairwell while he was trying to avoid servants may not have been the best idea. But it was too late now.

“Prince Gavin! His Majesty has been looking for you. He wants to see you in your chambers. Like, right now.”

“Ah. Thank you, uh…” He knew this. He _knew_ this! How many times had this girl caught him stealing food from the kitchens? He had to know this by now.

“Lindsay,” she supplied, smiling.

“That’s right. Lindsay. Thanks so much, Lindsay.” Lindsay. Of course. Gavin turned around to leave the kitchen and use the official stairs.

“Oh, your highness!” she called after him just as he reached the hall. Gavin turned around. “You should try the cake at tonight’s dinner. I made it myself, built it and everything.” She gave him a thumbs up.

Gavin returned the thumbs up and smiled. “Will do!”

Lindsay smiled back, then made a shooing motion, indicating that Gavin should probably get going.

* * *

 

Gavin burst into his room with a bang to find Geoff and Griffon standing and talking with his servant.

“I’m here!” he called, which was mostly unnecessary since all three of them were now looking at him anyway.

“Gavin, where were you?” Geoff asked, not sounding annoyed like Gavin had expected. It was more like an odd mixture of exasperation and genuine interest.

Griffon walked up to him. “Probably in the forest,” she said, picking a leaf out of his hair.

“God, Gavin I told you to stay inside. It was just for today, man. You could’ve done it.” Geoff sighed. “Dan, do you think you can fix him up again?”

Dan looked Gavin over a bit before replying. “I believe I can, your majesty.”

Griffon offered Dan a heartfelt ‘thank you’ before ushering Geoff out of the room. When they left, Dan took off Gavin’s cloak and folded it neatly on the bed. “Sorry, Dan,” Gavin said, while Dan turned him every which way in an attempt to assess the damage.

“It’s no problem,” Dan laughed. “You actually managed to keep mostly clean this time. I’m proud of you, B. And anyways, it was pretty great watching the King and Queen freak out.”

Gavin giggled and Dan flicked the back of his head. “Hey! Don’t you dare tell them I said that!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Dan.”

“Good.” He grabbed a brush and started combing through Gavin’s mussed hair. “Now, this is the worst of it, here. I’m debating whether or not we should just wash your hair again…”

“Oh, Dan, please don’t!” Gavin squirmed around, trying to get away from Dan before he decided, but Dan saw this coming and tightened his grip around the prince.

“God, Gavin, hold still!” The two wrestled a bit, Gavin trying desperately to break free of Dan’s grip for a few seconds before finally giving up and flopping down in his friend’s grip like a ragdoll. “Fine. If you’re so against it, we don’t have to re-wash it.”

“Thank you, Dan.”

“But we’ve got to do _something_ about it.”

Gavin groaned.

“Come on, B, it’s your big day! You’ve gotta at least look kind of presentable.” Skillful swishes of the brush gradually tamed Gavin’s hair into tidy sweeps of gold.

“I know, but it’s stressful, you know? Like—ow.”

“Sorry. Knot.”

“Like, do I have what it takes to do this? It’s a lot of responsibility, and you know I’m bad with that stuff.”

“It might surprise you, but I think you’ll do great when the time comes.”

Gavin was about to argue, but a knock on the door cut him off. “Come in!” he called. The door opened to reveal a young maid.

“His majesty the King would like Prince Gavin to meet him in the ballroom,” she said, bowing.

“Thank you,” Gavin replied. The maid bowed again and exited the room.

“Just in time!” Dan said, finishing his final brush stroke. “Now go out there and enjoy yourself! It’s your party, after all.” He gave Gavin a little shove towards the door. “But don’t eat too much, okay? You know servants get everything the guests don’t finish up.”

Gavin laughed. “I won’t. Wish me luck out there!”

“You won’t need it, man. I know you’re nervous about being named heir, but trust me, you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, Dan.” Gavin offered his friend a small smile before opening the door and walking out into the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really just needed to post this on 4/20 because its only once a year guys cmon  
> so yeah happy easter for everyone whos celebrating, and happy 4/20 for everyone else uwu<3


	3. Geoff - The Crowning

Even before he entered the Great Hall, Gavin could hear the murmur of voices from within, nobles from all over the kingdom and allies of the state alike mingling in idle chatter. And every single one of them was there for him. Gavin took a deep breath, staring at the large oak doors before him, steeling himself for the night ahead. It was all ceremony, of course, but he wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing disapproval on every face in the room. He knew the idea of him being named heir, someone with no known family and no royal blood, was not an idea many of the kingdom’s nobles relished. Gavin wasn’t sure if even he liked the idea. What if he messed up? Was he really fit to run an entire kingdom?

 _Deep breaths_ , he thought. _Just go in and get it over with._ One more breath, a few shoulder rolls to ease the tension he could feel building in his back, and Gavin nodded to the servants manning the doors. They bowed and pulled them open.

A hush fell upon the crowd gathered inside the room, nobles glaring for a bit before curtseying or bowing and parting a path for Gavin. He walked through, feeling eyes on his back as he made his way to Geoff, who was sitting on his throne next to Griffon. At the foot of the dais leading to the thrones, Gavin knelt and cast his eyes to the ground, as dictated by ceremony. A few feet in front of him, he could hear Geoff’s clothes rustle as he stood, the soft whisper of the ornamental sword being pulled from its sheath, could feel the cold weight as the flat of the sword was laid on his left shoulder.

“Do you,” Geoff intoned, “Prince Gavin of the House of Ramsey, swear on the beating of your heart to uphold the laws of this land?”

“I, Prince Gavin of the House of Ramsey, swear on the beating of my heart to uphold the laws of this land. Should I break this oath, let its beating be forever stilled.”

The sword moved to his right shoulder. “And do you, Prince Gavin of the House of Ramsey, swear on the hand that wields your weapon to reign this land with justice and righteousness?”

“I, Prince Gavin of the House of Ramsey, swear on the hand that wields my weapon to reign this land with justice and righteousness. Should I break this oath, let it be severed from my arm and never again brandish a blade.”

Geoff removed the sword from Gavin’s shoulder and put it back in its sheath. “Then rise, Crown Prince Gavin of the House of Ramsey, crown prince of the Ramsey line and heir to its kingdom.”

Gavin stood, but remained at the bottom of the dais. Geoff continued, unbuckling the sheathed sword and holding it horizontally. “By the power vested in me by my father and before the witnesses gathered here today, I present to you, Crown Prince Gavin, heir to the House of Ramsey, with the sword of my fathers. Forged in the Ender Dragon’s fire, the first of the Ramsey line fought with this blade in the Nether Wars. Since, it has been passed down for generations. My father received it from my grandfather, I received it from my father, and now, you shall receive it from me.”

Geoff extended the sword to Gavin, who gingerly took it and bowed.

“Now, Crown Prince Gavin, take your place at my side.” Geoff sat back down and Gavin finally stepped onto the raised platform holding the King and Queen’s thrones, standing on Geoff’s left and buckling the heavy sword onto his belt. Down on the floor, conversation resumed.

Leaning over, Geoff whispered to Gavin. “Sorry you have to stand. Ceremony and all that. It’ll be dinner in a little bit though. Good job learning your lines, by the way. I thought for sure you’d forget one.”

“To be honest, I thought I would too.” Gavin replied, looking out over the crowd. He noticed Ryan over to the left of the room, talking animatedly with a few guests. It struck Gavin as odd, seeing as the Captain of the Guard had never shown any interest in conversing with the nobility.

Griffon noticed this too, leaning over to Geoff and murmuring, “Sir Ryan’s being uncharacteristically social tonight.”

“Well, it’s about time!” Geoff replied. “He’s always so closed off during parties, always skulking in some corner. Kinda like his apprentice right now, actually.”

All three of them looked over to a curly-haired young man on leaning the far wall, arms crossed and scowl clearly placed. He looked extremely uncomfortable in the fine crimson garments he wore and kept reaching up to fiddle with his collar, looking like he wished he could tear it off.

“What, Michael? He’s just not in his element,” Griffon replied, looking at the redhead with sympathy.

“Your Majesty?” came the small voice of a maid from Griffon’s left, effectively cutting off the conversation. “Dinner is ready. We wait on your command.”

“Now would be fine,” Griffon replied. “Thank you, Lucille.”

Lucille bowed and went over to the great doors, slipping out unnoticed by any of the guests. Griffon stood up. “Excuse me,” she called. She wasn't shouting, but her voice carried all the same. All eyes turned towards her. “Honored guests, we are so glad you could join us on this auspicious occasion. However, I’m sure that after each of your respective journeys—some of you half a day, some of you an entire week—you are all very hungry. Therefore, without any further ado, I bid you seat yourselves and be treated to a feast!”

Servants began to file in through the oak doors as the guests ambled into their seats, setting the tables and presenting the meal with a flourish while idle chatter filled the air. Gavin, Geoff, and Griffon joined the table where the kingdom’s allies were sitting. Among them were King Burnie, King Matt, and King Gustavo, all of them old friends of Geoff’s and his greatest supporters. Gavin took his place next to Griffon, noticing that she was looking very pointedly at something past Matt’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong, Griffon?” Gavin asked, trying to figure out what she was looking at.

“It’s Ryan.” She paused, thinking. “He usually sits with the Northern nobility, since they’re the closest to kinsmen he has here. But those are all Easterners there.”

Indeed, Ryan was smiling easily and carrying on jovial conversation with a group of Eastern-born, with their distinct shawls and warm colors.

“So what?” Gavin shrugged. “Maybe Geoff is right, he’s just putting himself out there more.”

“I don’t know… Isn’t it even a little weird to you, Gavin? I mean… No. No, never mind. Forget it.” Griffon waved her hand dismissively and made a point of tucking into her cornbread, making it obvious that the conversation was over.

Even so, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes off Ryan. Whenever Gavin looked over at her, she was squinting across the room at Ryan, hardly looking down to eat the next bite of goose, or the next spoonful of soup, or the course after that, or the course after that. Even when the last course came in—a beautiful cake with tier after tier of heavenly goodness, adorned with columns of pure spun sugar and strawberries that took the breath of everyone present—Griffon could hardly bring herself to glance at it before returning to Ryan with a perturbed gaze.

“Griffon?” Gavin asked as he was given a plate and a huge slice of the cake, complete with an entire sugar column, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“What?” She glanced at him for a second before jerking back to Ryan. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine. Ryan’s been with us for years. So what if he’s talking to a different group of people today? Did you know earlier he was talking to Westerners, too?” She shook her head. “But no, you’re right.” Griffon stabbed the cake absently, gaze once again averting to Ryan.

“Griffon—”

“Mmmm!” she interrupted. “Gavin, this cake is delicious, try it!”

“But…”

“Try it, c’mon!”

Relenting, Gavin took a bite, letting the moist vanilla flavoring melt on his tongue. “It really is, isn’t it?” he said, deciding to let the subject of Ryan drop. After all, it seemed Griffon wasn’t really willing to talk about it anymore.

* * *

 

After the feast, Gavin tiptoed down to the kitchens where the kitchen staff was still cleaning all of the dishes, and probably would be until much later.

“What can I get for you, your Highness?” Gavin spun around to see Lindsay behind him, dishes in her hands, smirk on her face.

“Just came down to tell you how magnificently top your cake was! How did you get it to not fall over like that?”

She grinned in pride. “A little bit of icing in the right places goes a long way, o Crown Prince.” She bowed jokingly, going as low as she could without dumping the fine china in her hands.

Gavin chuckled. “It was pretty good icing, too. Um, also… Do you think I could get a leftover piece of that goose from earlier? It’s for Lilac.”

“Ooh, _that’s_ why you’re down here. I see where I stand.” Lindsay giggled and carefully handed her armload to a kitchen boy. “C’mon, Highness. Let’s see what we can find for your wolf.” She moved off to the ice box, motioning for Gavin to follow her. Kneeling down, she began to root through the leftovers. “Let’s see… Soup, bread, turkey… Would turkey be alright? I don’t think we have any goose left.”

“Turkey would be great. Thank you so much, Lindsay.”

He was handed two wrapped packages. “One for Lilac and one for you.”

Gavin smiled. “Because I need more food after that dinner.” He took the turkey anyway.

“A little more won’t hurt,” Lindsay said. “Now go to bed, or you’ll be exhausted tomorrow.”

“Hey, you can’t order me around like that! I’m the prince, you know!”

“My apologies,” she said, gently pushing him out of the kitchen. “Go to bed, your Royal Crown Prince Highness.”

“That’s not even a real title.”

She got him out into the hallway. “Don’t you have a wolf to feed, Highness?”

“You could just call me Gavin,” he suggested, not quite moving yet.

A smile touched Lindsay’s lips, so small it was almost imperceptible. “Alright… Gavin, then. Go to bed, Gavin.” She gave him a small shove to get him walking towards the stairs.

“Fine, fine. Good night, Lindsay!”

“Good night, Gavin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so in other news i know jack shit about medieval ceremonies of any sort haha bye


	4. Geoff - Bandits

The next day, Gavin awoke to a knock on his door. "Come in," he mumbled, sitting up and blearily rubbing his eyes.

Geoff entered the room, carrying a large bundle wrapped in fine silk. "A thousand year old sword is cool and all, but I thought you might like an actual gift too." He set the package at Gavin's feet and watched the young man surge forward, pulling the silk off to reveal a bow made of the finest yew wood, with a quiver and wrapped bundle of arrows next to it. Off to the side was a baselard dagger in its leather sheath. "I realized that you don't actually have any weapons of your own; you kind of just always stole from the armory for practice. So I thought, hey, why not get him some shit of his own?"

"Oh my god, Geoff thank you."

"No problem, man. Hey, you wanna go out on the grounds and practice? It's been forever since we sparred."

Gavin chuckled. "It's 'cause you're too old. I don't want to kill you or something."

"Hey!" Geoff tossed some clothes at Gavin's face. "I'm not that old! I could beat you any day, kid."

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Gavin pulled on the clothes and grabbed his new weapons, sprinting out of the room. "Race you downstairs!"

"You got a head start!" Geoff yelled, chasing after Gavin. While rounding the bend at the bottom of the stairs, Geoff overtook Gavin, earning a squawk from his opponent.

"You're cheating!"

"How the hell am I cheating!?"

Redoubling his speed, Geoff tore across the entryway and down the halls, slamming into the door leading to the training grounds to stop himself. When Gavin caught up, he doubled over, gasping for breath. "No fair, Geoff! No...fair...." He took another big gasp for air before flopping onto the floor.

"What do you mean 'no fair'? You're just too slow for me, Gavin. Face it." Geoff giggled weakly, also a bit short on breath.

Gavin sighed. "Whatever. Can we just wait here for a bit? Catch our breath?"

"Are you kidding me? Get up, you huge wimp. C'mon!" Geoff grabbed Gavin's hands and heaved him up. Gavin whined all the way up, but didn't protest. And when Geoff opened the door, although Gavin complained it was 'too bright out there', he walked out into the afternoon sunlight without a struggle.

Once outside and accustomed to the brightness, Geoff asked, "So. Archery first, or knife?"

"Archery." Gavin grinned, grabbing the bow and slinging the quiver over his shoulder.

The two walked over to the archery range, but just before they reached it, a servant ran up to them.

"Your Majesty," he gasped. "I've been sent..." Another gulp for air. "I apologize for my state, my King, I ran all the way from the Great Hall and--"

"It's alright." Geoff interrupted. "Trust me, we understand. Just catch your breath and tell us what your message is."

The servant nodded, taking a few more gulps before straightening up. "The Queen, Sir Ryan, and Sir Jack request your presence in the drawing room. Her Majesty said to tell you that there's been another attack, that you'd know what that meant."

At the word 'attack', Geoff's face drew to a point and darkened. "I know exactly what it means." He turned to Gavin. "I'm so sorry, man. I've gotta go take care of this..."

"Pretty elaborate scheme to get out of being utterly trounced, but I guess I'll let you out this time." Gavin smirked.

"Yeah, right. As soon as this is sorted out, I'm coming back to show you what's what."

"Hah, as if." Gavin waved as Geoff was led away by the servant.

* * *

 

Geoff walked along the corridors, reaching the drawing room and dismissing the servant, who bowed and walked away while Geoff opened the double doors.

"This is getting out of control," he said as soon as he entered.

"You could say that," said Geoff's advisor, Jack.

"Where was this one?"

"The bandits attacked a small village near our North-Western border." Griffon answered, pointing at a spot on a map sitting on the table. "They're all over the place, but we've at least determined that they're targeting villages of similar size."

"Except for that one town two weeks ago," Ryan added.

Griffon groaned. "Except for that one town two weeks ago. Definitely bigger than the rest of the targets."

Geoff say down at his place. "So you're saying we've still got jack shit."

"Maybe worse than that," Jack said. "More like Ryan shit."

"Shut up, Jack!"

"Anyways," Jack continued, ignoring Ryan. "What I'm saying is that we've been getting reports from lords nearby the attacks about widespread discontent. It’s nothing too bad right now, but the more attacks there are, the worse it’ll get. We need to figure out something soon, or we’ll have trouble.”

Ryan nodded. “I’ve already sent out some of my best troops to protect towns like the ones that got attacked. We’ll be a bit short-staffed here, but at least the people will be safe.”

Griffon frowned. “How short-staffed are we talking here?”

“Well…”

“It should be alright,” Jack cut in. “We don’t have any enemies right now, so this is probably the best use for our soldiers. After all, the people need reassurance that we have things under control.”

“Which we don’t,” Geoff scoffed.

“Well, until we do, we can at least pretend we know what we’re doing,” Griffon supplied, still not looking too happy about the castle being unprotected.

“True,” Jack agreed. “If the peasants are protesting to their lords, it’s obvious they aren’t feeling that confident in us right now. We need to boost that confidence as much as we can so we don’t end up with rebellions on top of these damn bandits.”

“Rebellions _would_ be unfortunate, wouldn’t they?” Ryan mused quietly, mostly to himself.

“What, Ryan?” Griffon asked, but Ryan just shook his head and turned back to the map.

“So,” he said, “If we don’t have anything, I think we should leave the issue for now. It won’t do us any good to bang our heads on a wall for another two hours. We should meet again tomorrow. Maybe we’ll have some better ideas then.”

Murmurs of assent came from the other three people in the group and they all shuffled out of the room, each to their own chambers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive noticed that i seem to be allergic to this 'closure at the end of chapters' thing so yeah sorry for that  
> im also sorry that its taken me so long to update! but hey, nothing like the king gavin lets play coming out in (exactly) 1 minute and 24 seconds to get my butt in gear, right?


End file.
